


Escape With Me

by doylesmom



Series: Gift Fics [6]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Gift Fic, Post Game, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23826265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doylesmom/pseuds/doylesmom
Summary: A year in Almyra. Who would have guessed? Who could have guessed? Certainly not her. Perhaps Hilda. Undoubtedly Claude- no, he’s Khalid here, Byleth, you have to remember that- but if someone had told her two- six?- years ago that she would be living full time in the Almyran border city of Tegya as she and her betrothed forged alliances and united nations, well…Perhaps she wouldn’t have laughed, but she would have gotten as close as she was able to then.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Series: Gift Fics [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554103
Comments: 19
Kudos: 111
Collections: The Golden Gifts - Claudeleth Fic/Art Exchange





	Escape With Me

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for your patience in regards to the lack of AMD updates, everyone. In the meantime, enjoy this fic I wrote as part of an exchange for the wonderful, incredible, insanely talented [Tish](https://twitter.com/tishtish4), who drew [this amazing piece of art](https://twitter.com/tishtish4/status/1238554908225228802?s=20) that this story is based off of! Please go give her and her work the love and appreciation it deserves!!

The warmth of Almyran nights were still something Byleth had not yet gotten used to. ItThe first anniversary of her arrival in the beautiful- if not harsh- nation was fast approaching, and yet still she often found herself awake late into night, tossing and turning beneath silk sheets as she fought to find a cool spot on the bed. She had returned to her assigned chambers after dinner, exhausted from the day’s affairs. Uniting four lands- who had spent generations embroiled in conflicts with one another- into one was no easy feat. Despite the weariness tugging at her bones, she had taken one look at her bed- cool, but only for a moment- and one look at her open air balcony, and the decision was easily made.

She settled herself against the railing, letting her thoughts wash over her as the moon rose in the sky and her fingers traced the patterns carved into the stone. Wings and scales and antlers and symbols she wasn’t quite familiar with just yet.

A year in Almyra. Who would have guessed? Who  _ could  _ have guessed? Certainly not her. Perhaps Hilda. Undoubtedly Claude-  _ no, he’s Khalid here, Byleth, you have to remember that _ \- but if someone had told her two- six?- years ago that she would be living full time in the Almyran border city of Tegya as she and her betrothed forged alliances and united nations, well… 

Perhaps she wouldn’t have laughed, but she would have gotten as close as she was able to then.

Another warm breeze swept through her loose hair, carrying with it the smell of the night markets in the city below, still bustling with activity despite the late hour. The sounds of barter and music and laughter and dancing carried with them warm spices, heady perfumes, delicate blossoms, a hint of pine.

Pine?

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around her, strong and warm and kind as it had always been. She startled for just a moment- years of battle reflexes rearing their head in a single instant- her own head jerking up to gaze upon the smiling face of her betrothed, his green eyes dancing with merriment and amusement and mild apology as he cradled her close against his chest, as though to shelter her from the velvet blue night sky. His other arm snuck out from where it had been hidden behind his back, a single red bloom offered up between his clever fingers.

“A flower for my flower?” He offered, his lips quirking into a grin as she huffed with amusement, turning in his embrace to smile wryly at him as she plucked the flower from his grip, bringing it up to her nose and inhaling its sweet scent.

“What are you doing here?” She asked him, glancing up from the petals. “What happened to your chaperone? You didn’t leave her in the market again, did you?”

Claude-  _ Khalid, Khalid _ \- grimaced at the mention of Durra, his childhood nursemaid turned meddling crone, who had- upon their landing in the central courtyard of the palace of Tegya, glorious and gilded and gleaming with hard won victory from their latest battle and declaration of unity between their nations- appointed herself their chaperone, in keeping with the traditions of countless ages of Almyran royalty. 

It was sweet of her, but the lack of quality time had begun to wear on both of them. 

“Nader is distracting her for the night.” He told her, triumphant in even the smallest of his schemes. 

“And what did that cost you?” Byleth murmured, unable to keep herself from leaning in, pressing her head against his chest, the thrum of his heart against her cheek a soothing beat. She relished in the closeness of it, the warmth that- despite the already stifling heat of the night- sunk deep into her bones and lulled her into a sense of safety in the best of ways.

Claude-  _ Khalid, damn you Byleth, be better about that _ \- grimaced. The look was comical, exaggerated, the kind of look that he knew was guaranteed to pull a chuckle from her chest. And indeed it did, the bubble of laughter spilling from her lips like the delicate champagne from the jewel encrusted bottle they had been gifted at dinner. She would have to remember to write a thank you note to the Morfisian crown prince who had sent it to them.

“Ah, I see, babysitting duty again.” She hummed as he lifted the flower from her hands to tuck behind her ear. “So tell me, Claude-” she paused, catching her mistake. He chuckled above her, leaning down to press a kiss into her hair, the most intimate gesture he’d been able to give her since their arrival to Almyra. The feeling of it burned against her skin, flushing her cheeks like a young maiden and raising goose flesh on her bared arms.

“I don’t mind you using that name, you know.” He told her. “I doubt the rest of our friends will use my given name, and besides, you knew me as Claude first.”

“Perhaps,” Byleth acknowledged, “But I’d like to know you as Khalid as well.”

His true name slid off of her tongue like honey, the warmth of it foreign, but welcome. Khalid shivered as she spoke his name, his eyes growing bright and gleaming as the sound of it faded, like birdsong in the breeze.

“Perhaps,” he cleared his throat, looking up and away from her, “It is best that you continue practicing that, then.”

That made her laugh.

Laughing was a new thing, a new experience, a feeling she wasn’t quite used to yet. She felt, sometimes, that she may never be used to it. The first time she had laughed, fully and truly, it had caught her- and Claude, and Lorenz, and Hilda- so off guard that she had stopped in shock almost immediately. Since then it had become more frequent, easier, livelier. Sometimes she felt as though she would never stop laughing.

Sometimes she wondered if she would have ever learned to laugh if not for him.

Sometimes she felt as though she had no right to laugh, after everything she had seen, had done. 

“Where did your thoughts go, my love?” Khalid asked her, his face growing concerned as he reached up to stroke a thumb over her cheek. She leaned into the touch, letting the careful, calloused warmth of his hand chase away thoughts of the past.

“Where they always do.” She told him, voice bordering on raw. Khalid hummed in acknowledgement, knowing all too well where her mind had gone. Where his own would sometimes stray.

War did that.

Loss did that.

Recovery was hard, and not just in terms of restoring national infrastructure, she was learning. Some days were bad. Other days were worse. But these days, especially in moments like this- curled into each other, supporting each other’s weights and each drawing strength from the other- were better, in many ways. Undoubtedly things would always be difficult. Ghosts would haunt them for the rest of their lives. Ghosts of their pasts, their lost comrades, dreams of different futures, words left unsaid, choices left unmade. But they would move forward from there. 

And they’d do it together.

“Come, my love,” he said, breaking the silence, reaching his hands back down to grab hers, intertwining their fingers as he pulled her away from the railing, off of the balcony, back into her chambers. “I have something I want to show you.”

“But Khalid, we have early meetings tomorrow-” she began to protest, but Khalid simply smiled at her in that easy way of his.

“Escape with me, Byleth, just for one night.” He said. “You’ve been cooped up here for too long. Come, let’s go out for a while, just the two of us, just like we used to.”

Byleth couldn’t find it in herself to say no to that. With a smile, she wrapped his hand with hers, and together, they moved, out of the door and into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feel free to follow me on [ twitter](https://twitter.com/tzubakis/)!


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